Latest Book - The Indispensable Brand

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Brand Architecture

Organizing Your Brand Portfolio to Maximize Growth
brand positioning

Overview:

What is Brand Architecture?

As a brand strategy consultancy, we believe “fewer, stronger brands” is the best philosophy when it comes to managing a portfolio, given the expense and effort required to build and maintain brands. So companies are wise to design a framework—an architecture—for developing and organizing brands in their portfolio. It keeps the portfolio clear and focused and helps ensure that each brand within it is seen as distinct and, ultimately, indispensable.

Optimizing brand portfolios entails designing a comprehensive, forward-looking approach for establishing the right mix and organization of brands. Specifically, it requires developing two key strategies:

Brand Portfolio Strategy

This addresses which markets to participate in, which customer segments to target, how to align brands with target segments, the number of brands needed to sufficiently (and efficiently) serve specific markets and the strategic role for each brand.

Brand Architecture Strategy

This addresses which types of brands to have across offerings (master, descriptive, sub-, endorsed, etc.), how much emphasis to give brands relative to one another, and what type of relationships brands within a portfolio should have—especially relative to the corporate (master) brand.

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Our Process

Questions
Addressed

  • What is the optimal number of brands for the portfolio?
  • What is the strategic role for each brand within the portfolio?
  • What relationship, if any, should brands within the portfolio have with one another?

Typical
Challenges

  • The brand portfolio has become bloated (too many brands) and confuses customers
  • Brands within the portfolio are sub-optimally or illogically aligned with product offerings
  • Relationships between brands are random, or worse, detrimental to the portfolio

Ensuring
Success

  • Efficiency: The brand portfolio maximizes coverage, while minimizing overlap or duplication
  • Clarity: The brand architecture is easy for customers to understand and navigate
  • Alignment: Brands within the portfolio clearly map to target segments and product categories
Get to Know More
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Align Your Brand Portfolio with Business Strategy

Learn the Framework and Methodology for Optimizing Brand Architecture

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Brand Architecture Case Studies

Defining a Market Map to Clarify Brand Architecture

Defining a Market Map to Clarify Brand Architecture

Redefining Brand Architecture to Align with Business Strategy

Redefining Brand Architecture to Align with Business Strategy

Formulating the Brand Strategy for a Product Launch

Formulating the Brand Strategy for a Product Launch

Crafting a Brand Architecture for a Non-profit

Crafting a Brand Architecture for a Non-profit

Designing a Naming Convention to Drive Adoption

Designing a Naming Convention to Drive Adoption

Assessing and Leveraging the Impact of Co-branding

Assessing and Leveraging the Impact of Co-branding

Naming with the Right Balance of Form and Function

Naming with the Right Balance of Form and Function

Recasting a Naming Convention from a Customer POV

Recasting a Naming Convention from a Customer POV

Brand Architecture
Video Galley

Discover the strategic drivers of a successful brand architecture that works for your business.

The Problem with Organizing Your Brand Portfolio by Value Tier

The Problem with Organizing Your Brand Portfolio by Value Tier

While most brand portfolios have a value tier component, using price as a primary factor for organizing a brand portfolio is an incomplete organizing principle at best.

3+ Questions Your Brand Portfolio Should Address

3+ Questions Your Brand Portfolio Should Address

Although the specific components of a comprehensive brand portfolio strategy vary based on the company and the nature of its business, most portfolios should (at minimum) address these four key questions.

What Are the Features of Effective Brand Architecture?

What Are the Features of Effective Brand Architecture?

Aim to structure your brand architecture so it is easy for outside shareholders to view it quickly, understand it immediately, and know which offer works best for them.

How to Best Structure a Brand Portfolio

How to Best Structure a Brand Portfolio

Structuring a brand portfolio is complex. Learn the guiding principles of creating a successful brand portfolio strategy.

View Our Video Gallery

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